In nine years of fishkeeping, a 2 years of breeding, I have never seen a lethal case of myco/TB. IN fact, I have never seen a case at all. Most fish deaths and illnesses can widely be attributed more to poor ownership than a rare bacterial infection.

And I agree.. but there is this becoming a problem in many places. This is a warning to be careful and make sure the proper product is used to get rid of it or keep it out of your fish.

Basement Bettas ~ Breeder of Show Bettas
Currently ranked first in 2013-2014 Season
Nationally ranked 3rd in point standings 2011-2012
Nationally ranked 5th in point standings 2012-2013
Regular contributor to Flare!
Co-Founder BettaSource

Just as a third party... this thread does seem rather panicked... yes it has good information, but what I worry about are people taking this and freaking out...

It is not to freak out.. but to make sure you are practicing good bio security in your own fish room and make sure you are aware of the signs. Not everyone can send fish to a lab. So how is the average Joe to even begin to consider this if all they hear is resistant so and so. It IS real and as such need to have correct information out so people can make INFORMED decisions.

Basement Bettas ~ Breeder of Show Bettas
Currently ranked first in 2013-2014 Season
Nationally ranked 3rd in point standings 2011-2012
Nationally ranked 5th in point standings 2012-2013
Regular contributor to Flare!
Co-Founder BettaSource

probelm is bettas and Z-fish are more susceptible than others. And the major supplier of bettas to the shops has it. It is in most fish I see in my local area and they come from same place. Just be careful.

Basement Bettas ~ Breeder of Show Bettas
Currently ranked first in 2013-2014 Season
Nationally ranked 3rd in point standings 2011-2012
Nationally ranked 5th in point standings 2012-2013
Regular contributor to Flare!
Co-Founder BettaSource

And I agree.. but there is this becoming a problem in many places. This is a warning to be careful and make sure the proper product is used to get rid of it or keep it out of your fish.

The thing is, I take EXCELLENT care of my tanks. Most people with instances of fish TB are having cycling issues, or water quality issues, or don't take care of their tank. Yes, all fish have some form of Mycobacterium. Well taken care of fish don't get over run by it. Its like saying beware!! Women have yeast! Be careful who you touch! Yes, all women have yeast, but its only the ones with the nasty hoo-has that need to worry about infection. Just like fish kept in nasty tanks.

The thing is, I take EXCELLENT care of my tanks. Most people with instances of fish TB are having cycling issues, or water quality issues, or don't take care of their tank. Yes, all fish have some form of Mycobacterium. Well taken care of fish don't get over run by it. Its like saying beware!! Women have yeast! Be careful who you touch! Yes, all women have yeast, but its only the ones with the nasty hoo-has that need to worry about infection. Just like fish kept in nasty tanks.

It is not a care issue. There is an unusual strain finding it's way into the betta hobby. Fish can carry and shed it for months. And my fish receive excellent care. I allowed ONE sick fish in the fish room and did not take proper steps and lost years of work. And I can tell you other breeders have taken excellent care of their fish. This is NOT a water quality issue causing a disease that can be cured. You going to tell the Z-fish research facility that they have care issues? I think not. But they get this. You get it by not taking precautions to keep it out. And they are pretty sever on how they handle getting rid of it.

This is a heads up. If you have something you can not get rid of you have to face this issue. And you have to get the right kind of stuff to kill it on your tanks and everything else. And fish can not be cured. I was told by more than one expert to destroy everything and start fresh. This is what you read and what you do when nothing else is working. And you can be proactive about prevention.. or not.

Basement Bettas ~ Breeder of Show Bettas
Currently ranked first in 2013-2014 Season
Nationally ranked 3rd in point standings 2011-2012
Nationally ranked 5th in point standings 2012-2013
Regular contributor to Flare!
Co-Founder BettaSource

It is not a care issue. There is an unusual strain finding it's way into the betta hobby. Fish can carry and shed it for months. And my fish receive excellent care. I allowed ONE sick fish in the fish room and did not take proper steps and lost years of work. And I can tell you other breeders have taken excellent care of their fish. This is NOT a water quality issue causing a disease that can be cured. You going to tell the Z-fish research facility that they have care issues? I think not. But they get this. You get it by not taking precautions to keep it out. And they are pretty sever on how they handle getting rid of it.

This is a heads up. If you have something you can not get rid of you have to face this issue. And you have to get the right kind of stuff to kill it on your tanks and everything else. And fish can not be cured. I was told by more than one expert to destroy everything and start fresh. This is what you read and what you do when nothing else is working. And you can be proactive about prevention.. or not.

From a Microbiologist standpoint (yes that's me! BSAST MT(ASCP)) most bacteria disease are caused but lack of care. Most bacterial disease can be prevented by proper hygiene, or in the case of a fishroom, proper maintenance. As far as accidentally letting a bad fish in? Well, would you put an old lady with pneumonia in a room of babies? I think not. It's called quarantine for a reason. And in almost 100% of cases, a bad fish put in a healthy tank is not going to infect healthy fish. That fish will die and that will be the end of it. Healthy immune systems fight off disease.

If 70% or 100% fish in the trade have this (because I guess it's the same thing apparently) then there's nothing we can do, there's no clean stock, one of those papers said it's even difficult for scientists to get Myco-free stock, why bother? You'll get a fish that will die in a few hours, or you'll get one that will die in a year. If every fish is going to die of Myco then there's nothing we can do. Killing fish and replacing them with more fish with Myco? I don't quite get it.

If 70% or 100% fish in the trade have this (because I guess it's the same thing apparently) then there's nothing we can do, there's no clean stock, one of those papers said it's even difficult for scientists to get Myco-free stock, why bother? You'll get a fish that will die in a few hours, or you'll get one that will die in a year. If every fish is going to die of Myco then there's nothing we can do. Killing fish and replacing them with more fish with Myco? I don't quite get it.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Betta Fish and Betta Fish Care forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.